{"id":47880,"date":"2018-10-01T10:59:32","date_gmt":"2018-10-01T15:59:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2018\/10\/01\/trump-gets-negative-ratings-for-many-personal-traits-but-most-say-he-stands-up-for-his-beliefs\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T04:10:16","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T09:10:16","slug":"trump-gets-negative-ratings-for-many-personal-traits-but-most-say-he-stands-up-for-his-beliefs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2018\/10\/01\/trump-gets-negative-ratings-for-many-personal-traits-but-most-say-he-stands-up-for-his-beliefs\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Gets Negative Ratings for Many Personal Traits, but Most Say He Stands Up for His Beliefs"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Trump<\/figure>\n\n

Donald Trump receives generally negative ratings from the public across a range of personal traits and characteristics. Just 24% of Americans say Trump is even-tempered, while nearly three times as many (70%) say that description does not apply to him. Fewer than half say that Trump is a strong leader (43%), well-informed (38%), empathetic (36%) or trustworthy (34%).<\/p>\n\n

Opinions are more divided over whether Trump keeps his promises or is able to get things done. A large majority (68%) \u2013 including about half of Democrats \u2013 says Trump is \u201csomeone who stands up for what he believes in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

The latest national survey by Pew Research Center, conducted Sept. 18-24 among 1,754 adults, finds that Trump gets lower ratings than his predecessors in recent midterm years \u2013 Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton \u2013 for being trustworthy, empathetic and well-informed. However, Trump fares comparatively well in public perceptions of his ability to get things done.<\/p>\n\n

Trump\u2019s overall job rating stands at 38% and remains deeply divided by gender, race and educational attainment. While men are divided in views of Trump\u2019s job performance (46% approve, 47% disapprove), more than twice as many women disapprove (63%) than approve (30%).<\/p>\n\n

\"Republicans<\/figure>\n\n

As has been the case since he became president, Trump\u2019s job approval ratings are divided along partisan lines; they are more polarized than any president’s dating to Dwight Eisenhower<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Similarly, there are large partisan divides in evaluations of Trump\u2019s personal traits and characteristics, though the gaps are not as wide in views of Trump\u2019s temperament and whether he stands up for his beliefs.<\/p>\n\n

Trump gets high ratings from Republicans \u2013 about 70% or higher \u2013 for seven of eight personal traits. But only 45% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say Trump is even-tempered, more than 20 percentage points lower than for any other trait.<\/p>\n\n

Democrats and Democratic leaners also give Trump particularly low ratings for his temperament (10% say he is even-tempered), as well as for being trustworthy (7%), caring about people like them (8%) and being well-informed (10%).<\/p>\n\n

On the other hand, about half of Democrats (52%) say Trump stands up for what he believes in, which is about 30 points higher than the share who offer any other positive evaluation.<\/p>\n\n

Trump\u2019s job approval remains low<\/h3>\n\n
\"More<\/figure>\n\n

Overall, 55% say they disapprove of the way Trump is handling his job as president, compared with 38% who say they approve of his job performance. Trump\u2019s approval ratings are little changed since June and have been remarkably stable over the first year and a half of his administration. Over this period, Trump\u2019s ratings have shown much less change than his predecessors<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Large majorities of blacks (84%) and Hispanics (71%) disapprove of the way Trump is handling his job. Whites are evenly split in their views.<\/p>\n\n

\"Wide<\/figure>\n\n

Younger adults are more likely to disapprove of the president\u2019s job performance than older adults. And those with higher levels of education are more critical of how he is handling his job than those with lower levels of education.<\/p>\n\n

By 67% to 27%, white evangelical Protestants continue to approve of the job Trump is doing. Among white mainline Protestants, about half (52%) approve of Trump\u2019s performance (40% disapprove). On balance, Catholics are more likely to disapprove (55%) than approve (41%) of how Trump is handling his job as president. Ratings are even more negative among the religiously unaffiliated, 71% of whom say they disapprove of Trump.<\/p>\n\n

About eight-in-ten Republicans and Republican leaners (79%) say they approve of Trump\u2019s job performance; his ratings are significantly higher among conservative Republicans (87%) than moderate and liberal Republicans (63%).<\/p>\n\n

Among Democrats and Democratic leaners, a large 90% majority disapproves of Trump\u2019s job performance, including 95% of liberals and 85% of moderates and conservatives.<\/p>\n\n

Views of Trump\u2019s personal traits and those of recent presidents<\/h3>\n\n
\"Impressions<\/figure>\n\n

On trustworthiness, empathy and being well-informed, Trump is rated lower than for his recent predecessors at similar points in the midterm years of their presidencies. For instance, about a third (34%) describe Trump as trustworthy today. By comparison, Obama was described as trustworthy by 58% of Americans in the summer before the 2010 midterm and by 51% in the summer before the 2014 midterm. About four-in-ten (41%) described Bush as trustworthy in August 2006 (the second midterm election year of his administration) and 46% said this of Clinton in July 1994.<\/p>\n\n

Similarly, smaller shares now say the phrase \u201ccares about people like me\u201d describes Trump (36%) than said this described Obama and Bush in the three previous midterm cycles.<\/p>\n\n

When it comes to perceptions of being a \u201cstrong leader,\u201d Trump gets the same rating as Bush did in 2006 (43%) and trails behind assessments of Obama on this dimension in the summers of 2010 (53%) and 2014 (47%).<\/p>\n\n

Trump fares relatively better when it comes to his ability to get things done. More describe Trump as able to get things done than said this about Clinton in July 1994 (40%) or Obama in July 2014 (44%); he trails only ratings of Obama in June 2010, when 55% described him as able to get things done.<\/p>\n\n

\"Growing<\/figure>\n\n

On several traits, the partisan gap in assessments of Trump is wider than at comparable points during the Bush, Obama or Clinton administrations.<\/p>\n\n

There is now a 67-percentage-point partisan gap over whether Trump is seen as \u201cable to get things done.\u201d Nearly nine-in-ten Republicans (87%) say this describes Trump, one of the traits they rate him highest on. Republicans today are more likely than partisans who supported the party in control of the White House in the recent past to say the president is able to get things done. In past midterm years dating to 1994, the partisan gap on trait was never more than about 50 points.<\/p>\n\n

There also is a 67-point gap between the shares of Republicans and Democrats who say Trump is well-informed. This is a much bigger gap than for past presidents. Democratic ratings for Trump on this trait stand out as historically low. Just 10% of Democrats say he is well-informed. By contrast, 23% of Democrats described Bush this way during his sixth year in office and far larger shares of Republicans described Obama (49%) and Clinton (42%) this way at this point in their terms.<\/p>\n\n

The partisan gaps on trustworthiness, leadership and empathy also are at least as wide as any seen in midterm years since 1994, though the magnitude of the differences are somewhat more comparable to partisan ratings for recent presidents.<\/p>\n\n

Most Republicans say GOP lawmakers are not obligated to support Trump\u2019s policies if they disagree<\/h3>\n\n

While Republicans and Republican leaners give Trump high job approval marks and rate his personal characteristics positively, many do not believe that GOP lawmakers in Congress have to support his policies if they disagree with him.<\/p>\n\n

\"Do<\/figure>\n\n

Overall, 57% of Republicans say that Republicans in Congress \u201cdo not have an obligation to support Trump\u2019s policies and programs if they disagree with him\u201d; 39% say they \u201cdo have an obligation to do this because Trump is a Republican president.\u201d Views on this question are about the same as they were in April 2017.<\/p>\n\n

Younger Republicans are especially likely to say that Republicans in Congress are not obligated to support Trump\u2019s policies if they disagree with them; those ages 50 to 64 are about evenly divided in their views. By contrast, a majority of Republicans 65 and older say that Republican lawmakers in Washington do have an obligation to support the president\u2019s policies even if they disagree.<\/p>\n\n

Conservative Republicans and Republican leaners are split in their views: About as many say GOP lawmakers have an obligation to support Trump\u2019s policies (47%) as say they do not (50%). Most moderate and liberal Republicans (72%) say Republicans in Congress are not obligated to support Trump\u2019s policies if they disagree with them.<\/p>\n\n

There also is a divide on this between Republicans who think about their midterm vote as a vote \u201cfor\u201d Trump and those who say Trump is not a factor in their midterm vote<\/a>. Among the 48% of Republican voters who consider their vote for Congress as a vote for Trump, 57% say Republicans in Congress have an obligation to support Trump\u2019s policies. Among the 45% of Republican voters who say Trump is not much of a factor in their midterm vote, 75% say GOP lawmakers are not obligated to support his policies if they disagree with them.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump receives generally negative ratings from the public across a range of personal traits and characteristics. Just 24% of Americans say Trump is even-tempered, while nearly three times as many (70%) say that description does not apply to him. Fewer than half say that Trump is a strong leader (43%), well-informed (38%), empathetic (36%) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":456,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sub_headline":"Trump rated lower for trustworthiness than Obama, Bush, Clinton","sub_title":"Trump rated lower for trustworthiness than Obama, Bush, 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